They needed to pick up the pace. They needed to execute on their chances, regardless of how many or few they were given.

And, perhaps most importantly, they needed to pitch better.

Hours later, Miley handed the ball to Bryan Mitchell for a Sunday afternoon game at a sun-splashed PNC Field. And the 23-year-old right-hander, he of three career starts at Triple-A, went out and authored a gem against what had been the hottest team in the International League.

Mitchell threw seven shutout innings of three-hit ball — with six strikeouts and no walks — as the RailRiders snapped Pawtucket’s franchise-record 11-game win streak with a 3-1 victory.

The Red Sox pitchers —starter Matt Barnes and reliever John Ely — gave the RailRiders little to work with, especially early. But a two-run fifth, keyed by Jose Pirela’s RBI single and Zoilo Almonte’s bases-loaded walk, was more than enough support for Mitchell, just five weeks removed from his first Triple-A start.

He got ahead of hitters early and stayed ahead — mixing in off-speed pitches for strikes — and shut down a Pawtucket lineup that had torched the RailRiders for 18 runs over the past two nights, and the International League for two weeks.

“When you fall behind to guys like this team and you have to give good pitches, they do what they’re supposed to do,” Mitchell said. “Today, I was able to stay ahead of them for the most part, and when you do that, you usually have better results.”

The rest of the RailRiders followed suit, adding to their lead in the eighth when Kyle Roller grounded into a double play that scored Almonte from third.

After needing three hours and 51 minutes to complete Saturday night’s marathon game, an 8-5 victory for Pawtucket marked by laboring performances from both pitching staffs, Sunday’s game took a mere 2:33. That began with Mitchell, who breezed through his work and needed just 82 pitches to complete seven innings.

“Obviously, the talent is there,” Miley said of Mitchell, who began the season at Double-A Trenton before earning a Triple-A call-up in June. “Great start against a very good hitting club. Seven strong innings, low pitch count. Very solid.”

Mitchell was perfect through three before Mookie Betts led off the fourth with a broken-bat single. The only other hits Mitchell allowed were a fifth-inning single to Carlos Rivero and a ground-rule double to Ryan Lavarnway in the seventh.

“(Catcher Austin) Romine called a great game,” Mitchell said. “He got me in a rhythm early and I just stayed with him the rest of the game. It worked out good.”

Making the performance all the more impressive was how elusive seven-inning starts have been for the RailRiders this season. Sunday marked just the 11th time in 108 games that a starter successfully completed seven innings of work. Miley’s starters had been averaging about 4⅔ innings per outing, taxing the bullpen.

It had been especially pronounced in this series, as neither Friday’s nor Saturday’s starter made it through four innings. Mitchell gave the relievers a welcome respite.

“That’s the plan, to go deep every game,” he said, “but especially after the last couple it was definitely in the back of my mind that they needed some help.”

The bullpen responded by picking up the final six outs.

Tyler Webb pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Edgmer Escalona was an out away from completing the shutout in the ninth before an error allowed Ryan Roberts to reach safely.

Lavvarnway later brought him home with a single to make it 3-1.

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